Walking in the Spirit

Today's scripture reference is Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Did you know that  you can walk in the spirit all day, every day?  Does that sound like a daunting task to you?  It used to sound that way to me.  Of course the reason why it did was because I misunderstood what walking in the flesh and walking in the spirit meant.

I used to think that walking in the flesh pertained to sinning. In other words, if I had a sin of commission ( I did something wrong) or a sin of ommision ( I didn't what God's word instructs me to do ) I was walking in the flesh.

Furthermore, I thought walking in the spirit meant that I went through my day with an attitude of love, peace and joy. That I would have a positive attitude in all my communications with those I came in contact with; that I would pray many times during the day in the spirit as I felt led and that I was disciplined in all matters or cravings of the flesh.   So for me, to avoid walking in the flesh meant to avoid walking in sin and walking in the spirit meant to be this victorious Christian, always being polite and positive, fully displaying a Godly attitude.

Of course, I am not suggesting that we can walk around any way we desire but now you can see why this seemed to be such a daunting task to me. Basically, I never felt like I qualified for being able to walk in "no condemnation" as verse 1 states. When I looked further into this verse I found out what "walking" in the flesh means which set me free.

The Greek word here for "walking" is the word "peripateō" which means "to be occupied with". Paul is talking about us being "occupied" with the flesh and the spirit.

 If we read further in this passage of Romans, the apostle Paul goes on to say, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,

Basically what Paul is telling us is that walking in the flesh is walking around occupied with the matters pertaining to the law; the system of do's and don'ts, which leads to death.  Paul said in 2 Cor 3:7 that the law engraved on tablets of stone was the ministry of death. And so when he says that Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death, he is saying that Christ fulfilled what the law couldn't do...he condemned sin in the flesh and made us righteous by His blood. 

So walking in the flesh is walking around being occupied with the law of do's and don'ts. On the contrary, we are to be occupied with the fact that Christ has qualified us in every aspect of our life through His sacrfice. This is summed up in verse 9 of this text, " But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." 

When you and I accepted Christ as our personal Savior, His spirit came to live in us. We need to be occupied with the fact that Jesus lives in us and we in Him. As you and I become more mindful of this fact, we are empowered to display the fruits of His spirit, which is love, joy and peace.

The works of the flesh demand that we "do" .  The works of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus dictate who we are.We are not to struggle in and of ourselves to "do" love, joy and peace, but to "be" love, joy and peace.  We are not human "doings" we are human "beings"

We are who God says we are and the more we can see ourselves as God sees us in Christ, the more the light of the gospel will shine in our lives.  As we occupy ourselves with the mindset that we are in Christ, this is what it means to walk according to the spirit. When we are occupied with being justifed by what we do, then we are walking according to the flesh. 

It is through this revelation that we can walk in a knowledge that "there is therefore now no condemnation for us who believe on Jesus Christ, the Messiah!